Chapter-33
"Is there really no way to stop this from happening?"
[Host, I have no control whatsoever over this function.] [It is one of the core functions and would automatically take place once the host has killed anything after the completion of the soul bonding process.]
"Uh-huh,"
Karna anxiously swallowed his saliva. Then he closed his eyes, thinking about what was about to happen, he opened them again. He then hurriedly pulled the spear from the tree trunk. After storing the dagger snake's body in the system storage, he spun around and ran for his life in the direction of the safe zone area.
Unfortunately, Karna had only taken four steps before he stumbled on his fifth step when he suddenly felt heat rising inside of him.
This heat rose form his back bone and spread all over his body until it felt like he was burning from the inside.
His expression crumpled into something unsightly, and his breathing, which had finally become regular, was now becoming erratic to the point where it was harder for him to even breathe.
Karna kneeled over on the floor, painfully wheezed out, and then fell on his rear from the powerful shockwave that came from inside his very soul. He rolled on the ground before his eyes shot open even wider.
Realizing that the pain was only going to increase, he grabbed the wooden spear and brought it near his mouth before biting on it.
Lying on his back on the ground with his pupil dilated, he spoke while his mouth clenched on the wooden shaft part of the spear, due to which every word he said was in a muffled voice.
"Mhmnn mhmm", which was actually this: "Damn you system!!!"
[Again, I apologise for the inconvenience, Host]
And the next moment, Karna felt an indescribable pain all over his body. Karna would have been howling fiercely if not for his jaw clenching on the wooden spear. His body convulsed like a fish out of water.
But then, the next moment, it all stopped, and his eyes turned completely dark, and a dark aura began oozing out of his body.
*****
After 30 minutes,
Lying on the ground, unconscious, Karna looked like a dead body with the no visible sign of life. A dark aura was oozing out of his body, which suddenly vanished. And in the next moment, Karna opened his eyes wide. With a deep breath, he set himself straight.
"Pant.... Pant.... I am alive." Sitting on the ground with his right hand on his chest, feeling his pulsing heart, Karna spoke with a stunned expression.
[Fortunately, yes, host]
"How long were I out?" Looking at the twilight of the sky, Karna asked
[For 30 minutes, Host.]
'What?!' he was shocked. 'How in the world did I survive in this region despite being absolutely helpless and defenceless against anything for a whole 30 minutes?'
Knowing my thought process, the system answered to clear my confusion.
[Host, it was due to the "Aura of Death" that was oozing out of your body while the "Mark of the Dead' was taking place. Because of this no magical beast had approached you even after sensing your presence.]
Pant…. "Aura of Death?"
[It something that can raise fear and dread inside of any living being.]
"Wait, so now magical beasts and even monsters will fear me?" Karna was excited, thinking that he wouldn't have to worry about dangerous creatures approaching him.
[Host, that was a temporary effect.]
"Why?! That's not fair; after going through so much misery, I should be able to gain something. I don't know what it's like to be burned alive, but I'm sure this was worse." Karna answered with a tiny tremble in his voice, and he shuddered as he remembered the sensation he had just felt. 'This was much worse than the moment when that bitvh was going through my memories.'
[Host, I am sorry, but it is something that can only be used by beings with divinity related to death, necromancers or high level undead beings.]
Hearing this, I went silent. I knew what a Necromancer was and had a little idea about the undead beings and as for the divinity, it was something related to gods. But then.... "Wait, then... you have divinity related to the concept of death."
[Yes, and no.] [My core had the divinity of death stored up inside it, which it used to inscribe the "Mark of the Dead" on your proof of existence.]
"Pant…. Just... what?" Karna was now even more confused, he thought that he really needed to know more about the system. While he was thinking about this, a message appeared in front of him.
[Ding!]
[Ding]
[Ding.] <50 experience points gained from killing the Lv-1 Dagger Snake>
[Ding.] <25 bonus experience points gained due to the level difference and killing the creature with a clean strike>
"All that pain, and I still couldn't level up. Tsk" Karna spoke, feeling annoyed and angry due to the painful experience he just had.
"Hmm, Pain resistance? And its unique grade. How?"
[Host has experienced and survived three sorts of agony: spiritual pain, mental pain, and bodily pain. As a result, the host's as gained slight resistance to all these pain.]
"Now that I'm thinking, It's been like, What? five days? since I have come to this world, and the only thing that has hurt me is you. Spiritual and Mental pain when you and I were bounding and just now the physical pain. I am sorry, but I am having some second thoughts about you, System."
[....]
[I apologize, host. But none of these things were done on purpose.]
"Sigh, I am joking."
"Okay Now, let's talk about this "Mark of the Dead." "Can you tell me where it is? Nothing is visible on my front." Karna stated as he examined his upper torso. When he realized there was no mark on his front, he queried the system, "Is it on my back?"
[Host, It has been inscribed on your physical proof of existence.]
"Proof of existence? You've been saying that for a while now. What is my proof of existence?"
[Your Bones, Host. The bones of any being are proof of their physical existence.]
"My––My bones? You mean there is now something engraved on the bones?" Hearing this a was a little taken aback.
[Yes, Host]
"Hmm, well, that's convenient. I was horrified, thinking that I would be left with an evil-looking tattoo on my face." Pausing for a second, he spoke again.
"Well, I was also kind of hoping that I would get a dragon tattoo or something equally cool on my back. Haha..." laughing at his own childish thought, he shook his head side by side.
Karna didn't know, but if he could see his skeleton right now, he would realize that from head to toe, the colour of his bones had turned from white to pure black.
Karna was in a situation where each of his bones was now tainted by the "Mark of the Dead." The current him had no idea how big of a thing this was or what impact it would have on his future aspirations.
"From what I remember, you said that this "Mark of the Dead" is a karmic mark that deals with cause and effect. And without it, I won't be able to gain any Exp and stat points."
[Yes, Host; the Mark will establish a cause-and-effect relationship between you and anything you have killed, and only then will I be able to convert the devoured strength of any killed being by the host into experience for the host to level up.]
[It is also for this very reason that the host can only gain experience from creatures that you have slain.]
[The Mark....]
"That's enough for now." stopping the system Karna shook his head as he got up from the ground.
He rubbed his temples with his right hand and said, "I'm starting to get a head-splitting headache from all this stuff. We'll talk about this stuff later, when we have reached the village. Now is not a good time."
[I agree, host.]
Karna took an unusually big breath, and then, releasing it as a long sigh, he looked around himself. The forest was already covering itself in darkness.
He was about to ask the system for directions because he had a bad feeling about this when, suddenly, he heard the sound of a twig cracking some distance away in the darkness of the forest.
'What was that?'
He nervously turned to gaze in the direction where the sound had come from. But unfortunately, he saw nothing but darkness from this distance.
Just then, another sound of a twig breaking, followed by a low grunt of a beast, came from the same direction and reached his ears.
And with that, Karna raised his vigilance to maximum and picked up the crude spear from the ground.
He slowly and carefully retreated while continuing to look in the direction where the sound had originated.
That's when he noticed two brilliant crimson pupils emerge from the shadows. Then, in the next instant, the two pupils became four and then six, until there were a total of 12 of them.
They were moving in this direction, whatever kind of creatures they were or how many of them there were. Straight at him.
[Host]
"Yeah"
[Run]
'Nice-idea!' Without wasting even a second more, Karna turned around and ran for his life.